I Graduated!

Ok, so I really graduated in January but on May 18th, 2014 I walked across the terrace of Bellarmine Hall at Fairfield University whilst my name was read into a microphone and I shook the hand of our school's president, Father Von Arx.



I wasn't sure if I was going to walk because I had already graduated and I've been away from school for so long anyway, but it was important to my mom and grandmother and it was actually important to me, as well. It's a big life moment and it really is an experience. It is something to be savored and recognized. College was hard work and it is nice to have it be celebrated.



I LOVED my time at Fairfield. I transferred there at the beginning of the second semester of freshman year and I was a commuter student. Because of these factors, I don't feel like I was a huge part of the Fairfield community. I was only on campus for my classes and occasional lectures throughout the semester. I didn't go to parties or live in the dorm but I still loved my college experience, it was the perfect fit for me. I can not even describe all that I learned while at Fairfield. I read Dante, Shakespeare, Joyce, Woolf, Dickens, and the Bible. I was introduced to ideas and thoughts and practices that I was never privy to before. I owe a lot to my education at Fairfield. I had wonderful professors who really love their area of expertise and who you could tell love teaching. I had so many experiences that are priceless and will aid me in my future as a student, as a writer, and as an academic.

A Little Life Update

We are back in Connecticut for the summer! Our time in Boston was swell and it went by so fast! AJ worked hard and he worked a lot. I played housewife, worked part time at two stores on Newbury Street, and was able to flex my writing muscles much more than I usually do. It was a great time and it has left me excited to head back in August for graduate school.

We're still getting our feet on the ground as far as summer plans although AJ has gotten as tickets for 3 concerts, we have one wedding to attend, and we are anticipating a trip to Cape Cod in a few weeks. And, of course, we'll have lots of details to get done for our upcoming wedding! Also, AJ just accepted a fun summer job offer at a sports camp and, while I'm hoping to keep writing this summer, I am still searching for my own, money-making summer job.

Lastly, I hope to keep my fun blog running strong during our last few months living in Connecticut and our last few months as an engaged couple. Happy Summer Everyone!

Currently Reading: Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932

This is the first book that I have ever had signed in the presence of an author, not to mention by one of my favorite authors, Francine Prose. I had it signed in April at the Boston Athenaeum after Ms. Prose gave a reading from this book, her newest novel.

I am over halfway through the book now and I am really enjoying it! It does not have me sucked in like Elena Ferrante's novels, but it is such an interesting read! It took her five years to write and you can tell; it is so full of interesting facts that are presented so simply that you don't realize you're learning about actual historical moments. Not to mention, her prose in this book is amazing. Every word is curated to give the desired effect. It's beautiful, like a painting, and so incredibly impressive!

The story is not written like a typical novel. It is written by different threads of people in the form of fictional autobiographies, biographies, letters, and memoirs. Most of the characters are based on real people, but Prose fictionalizes the unknown parts of their lives and certain events but you still learn so much about pre and post war France, including the Olympics and the nazi occupation.

It's a long book, pushing 500 pages but it is read so quickly! The characters are quirky and so complex. Sometimes you love them and in the next section, you hate them completely! It really is an impressive book and you can tell that it took a lot of work and research. It is so well done that as you read it, you can't believe someone could possibly write a book that is so complex but is so full of beauty!

I really recommend this book to everyone, especially those that love historical fiction. I don't typically gravitate towards historical fiction—and I keep saying that I would never have picked up this book if it was not written by Francine Prose—but this book is exceptional. It may seem a bit long and daunting for a summer read but it's so entertaining, no one should put this book on the back burner!

Reluctant Reviews

What's there to say when a book you read-hoping it will be brilliant-just disappoints? Falls flat?

I finished reading Blue Angel a few days ago, eager to be done. I read it because I have really enjoyed many of Francine Prose's writings in the past and that's probably the only reason I read the entire novel. The plot became too predictable and I don't feel like the story telling or the characters ever took off. They were stuck to the page and nothing and no one became real. Some of the words and language were superfluous, I found myself skimming paragraphs by the end. Not to mention, there was an alarming amount of typos and errors in the editing of the novel that added to my disappointment. It's not a book I would recommend and it does not seem like the work of an author as well-written, creative, and talented as Prose. 

Because I believe that Prose is one if the best authors of the American novel today, I am reading her newest novel next and will be sharing a post on that shortly! Happy weekend! 

Today's Work Station: The Boston Public Library

I love writing in coffee shops, or trying to write in coffee shops, but it can get old and expensive fast. That's one of the reasons I love the library; it's free and I don't have to buy anything to sit there for hours. Plus, it's quiet and surrounded by inspiring books. It's the ideal place to write. I'm always amazed by how beautiful these steps are when I walk up them to head to Bates Hall.

Of course, it's a little more restricted than working in a coffee shop—I can't coffee or food with me and I get nervous for no reason whenever the security guards walks through the tables. But I find it easier to sit longer at the library and there's a sense of solidarity with all the other people working around me. You also have to avoid getting in the shot when tourists walk through to take photos but no big deal!

This was my view while working. 

The library will definitely return to the library to work. It's a nice walk to Boylston to Dartmouth and it's not too far from where we're living. I haven't explored too many other rooms there but I hope to one day have afternoon tea in their courtyard, it looks beautiful!

Happy May!

It may be raining and dreary outside, but it is May! This means we are even closer to summer and hopefully it will start feeling like it!

At the end of every month, it always seems like the time has flown by but, really, April went by the fastest. I can't believe it's over, it doesn't even feel like April even existed-that's probably the weather's fault, though. 

I hope I can make time slow down a little bit for May. It's a beautiful month and carries the most perfect days of sunshine, warmth, and a breeze before the heat and humidity of summer begins!

I hope everyone has a happy May first! Check back tomorrow for a post on my work station!

Currently Reading: Blue Angel

BLUE ANGEL

During the Spring semester of my freshman year at Fairfield University, I was a little awkward and out of place for a few weeks, maybe months. I transferred to Fairfield U the day after classes started for the new semester. It was a rash and rushed decision on my part to transfer but it is one of the smartest decisions I ever made. I'm so glad I changed my major and decided to go to a different college than the one I first attended.

But that's for another post!

Anyway, one of the things I vividly remember about that first semester in which I was accustoming myself to my new school, is sitting on the benches on the second floor of Canisius Hall between my Elementary Italian class and Mass Media sociology class. I had 50 minutes between the two classes and I didn't know what to do with myself! I didn't know where the cafeteria was (I still don't really know) and I didn't know the library well (I do now) so I just stayed in the same building rather than venturing out. I would sit on the bench and, for my first few weeks of that semester, I would read "Household Saints" by Francine Prose. A wonderfully strange but somehow realistic and relatable book, it kept me company when the hallways were dead quiet and it was engrossing enough to be distracted by the noise when students would start milling about around me. Since reading the first page of that book, I have become an obsessed Francine Prose fan and, once I finished "Household Saints,"I quickly bought 5 more of Prose's books at the same time.

And, getting to the point, I am now reading her novel called "Blue Angel." It was published in 2000 and was a National Book Award Finalist. I'm less than 100 pages in and I'm really enjoying it. I don't think it's her strongest book—her short stories and "Household Saints" are forever my favorites—but it's kind of illuminates the life of a writer/professor and it makes me wonder if there's a touch of prose in her protagonist as she, too, is a writer/professor. It makes me feel like I'm getting a little peek into her life, but of course, it's fiction so I'm not supposed to assume something like that.

The novel revolves around the life of Swenson, a writer and creative writing professor at a university in New England. One of his students starts bringing him chapters of her story in progress and, so far, he's enthralled by her talent. To be honest, if this book weren't by Francine Prose I might not have been drawn to it (however I think just coming off of an amazing Elena Ferrante book could be part of the issue) but I do like what it offers as far as a view into the life of an academic creative writer.

I'll post about it once I finish the entire book, and perhaps I'll write about it again in the middle if it's taking me a while to finish!